Laptop memory - is 1gb enough

[Chris Game]

Yes.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Lol. I guess I'm just old fashioned. I know it's 2007 and
memory's cheap now, but the idea that an OS requires 2 full gigabytes
of ram is somehow...offensive...

Consider it offensive if you want to, but be aware that as the years
go on, operating systems will become more and more powerful and
applications will be bigger. We will all use more and more memory.
Certainly that's been true in the past, and there's no reason to
expect it to change in the future.


We used to typically measure RAM in kilobytes, then in megabytes, and
now in gigabytes. In a few more years, it will be terabytes.

 

[the wharf rat]

Consider it offensive if you want to, but be aware that as the years
go on, operating systems will become more and more powerful and
applications will be bigger. We will all use more and more memory.

I don't agree that "more powerful" correlates with "uses ungodly
amounts of memory". I know you guys hate it when people bring up Linux
but honestly I carry around a 128MB P400 that has a linux partition and
it does *everything* my windows desktops do except play advanced games
(in fact the same system running W2K does everything my home desktops do
but unlike linux it doesn't perform well as an image editor or network
analyser...)

So that's why I ask whether all those extra resources are actually
OS related or whether they're really UI (or security, or whatever) related
because it's hard for me to get my mind around the idea that an operating
system might actually require that a system be equipped that way.

We used to typically measure RAM in kilobytes, then in megabytes, and
now in gigabytes. In a few more years, it will be terabytes.

Maybe. Memory technologies ahven't advanced as fast as CPU
and disk drive technologies have.

 

[Minnesota Tom]

Michael Chare-
-18 days ago, I bought a Compaq laptop for US$449, which cheap as it was,
seems like waaay too much to spend on piece of plastic and chips to surf the
web on!!! The Windows Experience scores are: 4.7 4.5 3.0 3.0 4.7
-It has only 1GB of RAM - and boy was I worried that it needed 2GB, like
EVERY salesman in EVERY shop said. (I mean, they know what they are selling,
right? They told me that Vista loads up into 965MB; that would use all of
it!!) WELL, I never seem to use more than half of my inadequate 1GB. Once
in a while (less than 1% of the time) it transiently spikes during some
passing process or installation to 60 to 75%. It essentially stays, PEGGED,
at 49 to 53% usage ALMOST ALL THE TIME, get it?? Plenty of RAM for me, maybe
for years.
-I actually bought 2 1GB-Dimms for US$60 +tax. I have just about decided to
return them unopened. I share your reluctance to toss out brand new RAM when
I upgrade to 2GB. What a waste the laptop manufatures have set up!!! Some
smart MVP said that you could upgrade in the future, if necessary at all.
EXACTAMUNDO!!
-Even my crappy little processor chip an AMD Athlon 64 X2 DualCore TK-55
sits at 02 to 10% utilization almost all the time. It too has shown
transients to 40 or 50 or 70% or more under VEEEEERRYY rare circumstances!
*Right now I am at ONLY 49% RAM usage and 02 to 07% CPU usage!!!!

 

[karl mcgruber]

2 GB will be a BIG help. But it Vista is such a big HOG that you will STILL
never achieve the speed, functionality, or stability of XP.

Karl